Jun 3, 2019
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was first published on 3 June 1969.
The 40-year-old Eric Carle had originally conceived of a bookworm working its way through the pages, but his editor, Ann Beneduce, suggested a caterpillar.
The book has been translated into more than 60 languages and sold nearly 50 million copies (averaging 1.8 copies sold every minute since it was published).
It was awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts Award in 1970, and was ranked #2 children’s picture book of all time (behind Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are).